Cinema: 2023 global box office was 30.5% higher than 2022

The film industry is in the process of recovering after the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and closed 2023 with an estimated box office of US$33.9 billion, according to data from Gower Street Analytics.

The result still represents 15% less than the average of the last three pre-pandemic years (2017-2019), but shows an increase of 30.5% compared to 2022.

North America was the top market in 2023, with an estimated revenue of US$9 billion, a 21% increase from the previous year, but still 21% below the 2017-2019 average. The region was responsible for 26.8% of the global result.

Next, the top 10 markets were: China ($7.71 billion), Japan ($1.48 billion), UK/Ireland ($1.36 billion), France ($1.35 billion ), Germany ($1.01 billion), Korea ($970 million), Mexico ($940 million), Australia ($670 million), Italy ($550 million) and Spain ($540 million).

India is not included in the count as Gower Street Analytics does not have access to full country data.

Although there were moments where some of the main markets, such as China, Japan and Germany, were above their three-year pre-pandemic averages, the only one of the top 15 to end 2023 above its 2017-2019 average was the Netherlands (+3%).

During the Northern Hemisphere summer, there were strong signs that global audiences would return to pre-pandemic levels, with July (+17%) and August (+1%) recording numbers above the 2017-2019 averages for those months.

It was during this period that the world experienced the Barbenheimer phenomenon, with the launches of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”. July was the first post-pandemic month to witness growth, when almost all markets (except China) surpassed their 2017-2019 average simultaneously.

Analyzing the market for 2024, Gower Street estimated that, with the impacts of the strikes in Hollywood in 2023, this year's revenue should fall to US$31.5 billion – 7% below last year.

See: the biggest box offices of 2023